How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from Lost in Translation.
Quote #1
LAUREN: How's Tokyo?
CHARLOTTE: It's great here. It's really great, um… I don’t know; I went to this shrine today, and, um, there were these monks, and they were chanting, and I didn't feel anything, you know? And, um, I don’t know… I even tried Ikebana, and John is using these hair products—I just, I don't know who I married.
LAUREN: Oh, can you wait a second? Just hold on. I'll be right back.
CHARLOTTE: Okay, sure.
LAUREN: Sorry, what were you saying?
CHARLOTTE: Nothing. It's okay. I'll call you later, okay?
LAUREN: Okay. Have the best time. Just call me when you get back, okay?
Thanks for nothing, Lauren. Charlotte isn't saying it directly here, but she is telling Lauren that she's lonely. She's essentially alone in a foreign country. Her husband's acting like a totally different person. She's not even moved by chanting monks anymore. Charlotte feels completely alienated from everyone around her, and even her good friend Lauren doesn’t understand that.
This is one of two symbolic hang-ups (as in phone hang-ups) in the film that communicate emotional disconnects, the other being the end of Lydia and Bob’s second call. AT&T would be very upset.
Quote #2
CHARLOTTE: Evelyn Waugh?
JOHN: What?
CHARLOTTE: Evelyn Waugh was a man.
JOHN: Oh, come on. She's nice. What? You know, not everybody went to Yale. It's just a pseudonym, for Christ's sake.
CHARLOTTE: Why do you have to defend her?
JOHN: Why do you have to point out how stupid everybody is all the time?
CHARLOTTE: I thought it was funny. Forget it.
It's not just the fact that Charlotte's the only one of her peers that knows who Evelyn Waugh is that isolates her. She’s also left all by her lonesome here because John defends Kelly and tries to make Charlotte feel like a big jerk.
Quote #3
BOB: Whose is this? "A Soul's Search: Finding Your True Calling."
CHARLOTTE: I don't know.
BOB: I have that.
CHARLOTTE: Did it work out for you, then?
BOB: Obviously.
The fact that Charlotte has that audiobook is proof that she’s desperate to try anything to “find herself.” As for Bob, well… Do you think Bob really has that book, too, or is he just trying to be nice?